TO J.P.Humbert Auctioneers, where punters are being offered the chance to buy the settee thought to be possibly the place where the man who would be Edward VIII “met” Mrs Wallis Simpson.

Indeed. While the forensics team swab the sofa, we tell you that the lot is from Burrough Court, which was once the property of Lady Thelma Furness, the woman who preceded Wallis Simpson in the affections of Edward VIII.